


Would you like to stay forever?

by Daslebensmittel



Series: Home is where the heart is [1]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Domestic Fluff, Erik Has Feelings, Established Relationship, M/M, dadneto, professors!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-08 23:53:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12875724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daslebensmittel/pseuds/Daslebensmittel
Summary: Erik and Charles have great thing going, except that Erik's kids haven't met Charles yet. They expect the worst and hope for the best, but the kids have their own ideas.





	Would you like to stay forever?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JackyJango](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackyJango/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [JackyJango](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackyJango/pseuds/JackyJango) in the [secret_mutant_madness_2017](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/secret_mutant_madness_2017) collection. 



> **Prompt:**  
>  Erik should feel insecure and be wary of the fact that his kids love Charles more than him, but he's not. Instead, he's vaguely proud of his children and prefers it that way.
> 
> Bonus: Though I wouldn't be opposed to either, I would readily fall in love with you if the tone is humorous and fluffy instead of serious.  
> Title from _Mulan_.

Charles was an amazing boyfriend. Not only was he smart and gorgeous, he also had a heart of gold (and if Charles made some very cute sounds, courtesy of Erik, _that_ was only for Erik to know). Erik couldn’t thank Emma enough for forcing him to attend the interdisciplinary faculty meet-and-greet; though he never was actually going to make that mistake, because then he’d never get her smug smirk out of his sights.

“Ready?”

Charles flashed his million-dollar smile as answer and Erik showed his own in response. He sometimes worried that Charles would feel cheated, Erik’s smile being not as worthy as Charles’s; Erik showed far too many teeth and was often reminded to keep his mouth closed by his colleagues, as it frightened the young undergrads. However, Charles always brightened even more at Erik’s shark-like smile, assuring him that it made him swoon.

“I hope you didn’t wait too long for me?” Charles asked with concern. After exactly a week after their first date, Erik had made a habit of walking by Charles’s office in the psychology department, which was a good 10 minutes walk from his own in the chemistry department. Erik had nonchalantly said “Just passing by” when he’d started, but nowadays, after 5 months of dating (no, Erik wasn’t counting), he had made it a ritual of “picking Charles up,” even if they didn’t go somewhere together.

“How was your day, darling?” Charles asked, as they walked to the train station holding hands. Erik put them in his coat pocket to protect Charles from the cold. Winter in New York City was chilly, but the beautiful foliage made it all worth it. 

“Oh, same old, same old. With the holidays approaching, all the undergrads are becoming loose. I’m glad I have Armando as my TA to deal with that,” Erik chuckled. “Alex, however, is becoming loose himself. He’s fine with the TA duties, but he still hasn’t finished his own thesis!” 

“I suppose it’s the same in every department. I have undergrads and grads alike asking for extensions. Really, Jean is the only one, out of my master’s students, on track to graduate on schedule! And don’t get me started on the undergrads… I envy Emma, she only has doctorate students.”

“Well, you were the one who chose to also teach undergraduates, Charles. Nurturing the young minds and all,” Erik teased good-naturedly. Charles glowered at him, but it soon turned into a smile.

They continued to complain about their students and the papers piled to be reviewed all the way to the metro station. They passed through the turnstiles and stopped before heading toward their respective platforms. 

“So… Are we still on for this weekend?” Erik asked timidly, holding onto both of Charles’s hands. Charles smiled knowingly. It was rare for Erik to be timid in any sense of the word. 

“Most certainly. You’ve given me an annoyingly copious number of chances for me to back out, yet I have not done so. Have some faith in me, darling.”

“I do, of course I do. But… Meeting the partner’s kids is never easy… I know you said you wanted to, but I still don’t want to make you feel obligated.”

Charles knew Erik meant well. It wasn’t that he wasn’t taking it seriously, either. He was rather daunted by it, truth be told.

“You see, Erik – perhaps I’m moving too fast, but I really, truly, enjoy being with you” – Erik smiled adoringly – “and I want to make it last. I want to know everything and everyone in your life. Your children are a crucial part of that and I want to be with you, with their approval,” Charles said, rubbing Erik’s hands. He then quickly added, “If I’m worthy.”

“You know you are,” Erik assured, kissing Charles’s forehead.

“I certainly hope so,” Charles said, with the slightest hint of nerves, “but you never know.”

“You’ll be fine. I can’t promise that they’ll love you right away. They may be my kids, but they can be really stubborn sometimes. And weird.”

“Are you surprised?” Charles laughed, “They sound like carbon copies of you.”

Erik pouted, mumbling something indecipherable. After a final hug and Erik’s confirmation of coming to pick Charles up for lunch with his kids, they parted ways toward home.

 

 

Saturday morning, Erik woke up with a jumble of excitement and trepidation. It was T minus 5 hours before his boyfriend and his children would converge their worlds. If all the sci-fi movies Erik had watched were true, it didn’t bode well. Of course, he wanted to share with his children the person who had been making him so happy for the past months, allowing them to reap the benefits of a pleased father – in the form of generous bestowal of cash and forgiveness. But also, they were just thirteen year olds, who had been living with their single father since they were toddlers after their mother passed away. They were thorny, both in their minds and hearts. Erik had done his best, at first with finishing his degree and then with his professorship at Columbia; he had had to take them into class more times than he could count, both when he was a student and a professor.

Steeling himself as much as he could, he left the safety of his room. He had to hold it together, even if everything else fell apart like it was the Götterdämmerung.

“Wanda, Pietro?” Erik called, knocking on their doors.

“It’s the weekend, Dad! Oh my GOD, it’s not even 8 right now!!” called Wanda. Pietro resolutely gave no response. 

“I know, Schatz, but we have to clean the house before lunch. Pietro? Time to get up, bud!”

“Ugh, why do we have to have lunch with your boyfriend at our house?? Can’t we go to a restaurant??”

“Because,” Erik started. He couldn’t finish his reasoning, however. He was worried that Wanda and Pietro would make a scene, rejecting Charles. They were on the cusp of becoming moody teenagers, after all. He would be immensely disappointed if that happened and prayed it wouldn’t, but he wanted to avoid embarrassment in public, if he could help it.

“Alright. I’ll be back in half an hour, okay?” Erik bargained. He earned angry silence for his effort.

  

After much wheedling, threats, and begging, Erik managed to get his generally chaotic home looking presentable with the help of his extremely cranky children. He wasn’t a paragon of organization at work either, meaning that the culprits of household disarray included him, not just the twins. Armando always complained about having to clean up all of Erik’s documents and junk in general every time he wanted to step into the office. Alex didn’t complain only because he was the same way.

Before leaving the house, Erik shoved anything they didn’t know what to do with into the closets and his office. All he really wanted to have perfectly ready was the living room and kitchen. As Erik’s cooking skills were subpar (they all ate Pop Tarts for breakfast), Charles was bringing groceries to cook for them. Another thing Erik loved about Charles.

 

Erik left early to Upper East Side, where Charles lived in a cozy apartment closer to school. He didn’t know why, but he was feeling slightly jittery. Normally, he’d have ranted with a string of German swear words if the traffic was even remotely bad, but today he was somewhat appreciative. He needed more time to cope. He loved his children, but were they going to eat Charles alive? Would they make him cry? God, please no, it was the most heart-breaking thing to see Charles cry (he had seen it once, when there was death in Charles’s family. Erik had been thankful that he was not the cause of Charles’s tears). What if Charles found his children displeasing? What could he do if something went wrong?

Too soon, Erik was parking in front of Charles’s apartment and walking up to it. He went up as soon as he was buzzed in, and did his best to hide his nerves. Charles opened the door and kissed Erik on the lips.

“Everything okay?” he asked. 

“Yes, perfect,” Erik lied. Charles almost always knew when Erik wasn’t being honest, but he never called him out. He didn’t need to, either, because Erik cracked soon enough anyways.

“Wonderful. Would you please help me with the bags? I’m afraid I’ve gotten a bit carried away with my groceries.”

“Mein Gott, Charles. I only have two kids, not twelve!” Erik exclaimed, picking up two large canvas bags.

“I know, darling. But I didn’t know if they’d prefer juices to sodas, or pie to cakes…” answered Charles, picking up his own two large canvas bags and locking the door behind them.

They stuffed everything in the back of Erik’s car and began making their way home. When Erik glanced over at Charles, he was biting his lip and fidgeting with his hands. He was nervous. Charles had done a good show of being confident and breezy thus far, or perhaps Erik had been too worried on his own to notice the unnaturalness of it. It seemed now that the day has come, Charles couldn’t hide the anxiety about making a good impression and the implications that went with it. 

“You’re going to be fine, Liebling,” Erik consoled, taking one of Charles’s hands.

“What if they don’t like me?” he whispered. 

“We’ll figure it out,” Erik replied. And he was surprised to find that he truly meant it. 

 

Once Erik opened the door to his own brownstone, they found the teenagers simultaneously watching TV and tapping away on their phones. They did, however, slowly turn their heads – like a predator noticing its prey – when they saw that their father and the fabled boyfriend had stepped inside. 

“Hello, I’m Charles,” Charles greeted. He sounded bright, but Erik didn’t miss the miniscule tremor in his voice.

“Oh my god, he’s British!” Wanda softly exclaimed. She really needed to work on her stage whisper, Erik absently noted. He also remembered that she was going through a “British phase,” where she was blowing through all the BBC period drama she could get her greedy hands on. He and Pietro had been forced to listen to her gush about Mr. Darcy for the past two weeks. 

“His eyes are so blue,” Pietro said as a response. Erik thought it fascinating that Pietro chose to focus on Charles’s eyes. As hyper as he was at school, Erik had been warned by the homeroom teacher that Pietro rarely made eye contact with people, distracted by everything else that was going on around him. If he were honest, however, Erik couldn’t blame his son for being drawn to Charles’s stunning blue eyes.

Though somewhat taken aback by the children’s reactions and their subsequent blank stares, Charles nonetheless took a step forward to properly introduce himself. No introduction was done right without a handshake, he always said.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Wanda, Pietro. I’ve heard much about you,” Charles said, extending a hand with a smile. It was true; he had heard an earful about them from Erik. Though it was mostly of their mischief and misadventures.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Charles,” Wanda replied, gently shaking Charles’s offered hand.

“Please. Charles is fine, my dear,” Charles implored. Wanda blushed to a rosy tinge. Erik raised a brow.

“I’m Pietro,” said the boy, grabbing and shaking Charles’s hand rather vigorously.

“Delighted to meet you, Pietro. How do you do?”

“Pretty good, I guess.”

“Well, I’m very pleased to be having lunch with you. I’m not the best cook in the world, but I’ll do my best!”

The children simply nodded their head and watched Charles go into the kitchen with the enormous bags in tow. Erik was about to follow him to help when he heard a “Psst!” 

“What is it?” Erik inquired, stepping towards the living room.

“Aren’t you gonna ask what we think of him?” Wanda demanded.

“Well, we haven’t had lunch yet! You can’t have made up your mind already?”

“Dad, where did you find him? He’s too pretty for you!” Pietro lamented.

“And you didn’t tell me he’s British! How could you not tell me!”

“He’s a professor at Columbia, like me. What do you mean he’s too pretty for me? And excuse me, Wanda, but I distinctly remember that you didn’t want to hear about my ‘yucky boyfriend’ before!”

“Whatever, Dad!”

“You know what I meant… You’re probably gonna be dumped! You’re not handsome or gentlemanly enough!” Pietro shook his head dramatically. Erik didn’t know whether to be offended or amused.

“Anyways… Go ask him if we can help him cook, Dad. You’re gonna help, right Pete?”

“I guess…”

“ _You two?_ _Help?_ ” Erik asked, shocked. Admittedly, they never cooked anything too complicated on their own, but it normally took either bribery or threats for them to even help with setting the table. They both nodded, Wanda a little more enthusiastically than Pietro.

“And we want you to stay out of the kitchen. He won’t talk to us freely if you’re there,” Wanda demanded.

“Hey now, he’s going to need more help than just you two.”

“Come on, Dad. Don’t be so clingy,” Pietro scoffed. Erik was bewildered at their determination – more accurately, their determination to spend time with Charles. Though he was apprehensive about their helpfulness, he couldn’t help but concede and let them help Charles alone. He promised them that he would allow it and told them to wait patiently so he could let Charles know of their plan.

“What?” Charles asked when alerted of the change.

“Yeah, I don’t know why, but they are insisting.”

“Erm, okay. That’s fine. Totally fine…” Charles replied with obvious concern on his brows. Erik squeezed his shoulder and left Charles for a moment to collect himself, while he retrieved the twins.

 

Erik read the newspaper (or just pretended to) while the twins helped Charles with lunch. Charles had Pietro stir the boiling pasta and Wanda browning the ground meat while he cut the other ingredients. Pietro moved onto mixing the salad when the pasta was done, though Wanda stayed with the sauce. It didn’t take them too long to prepare lunch, but the children squeezed in as many questions as possible. 

“Why do you like our dad?” Pietro had blurted.

“He’s a kind and wonderful man,” Charles had answered smiling.

“Where are you from in England?” Wanda had asked.

“Well, I was actually born here, in New York City. But my family moved back to London when I was just four.”

From Erik’s careful eavesdropping, he heard them ask Charles how old he was, if he had been married or had kids, his opinion on Jane Austen and the Avengers, what kind of dates Erik had taken him on, among others. Though some of the questions were rather invasive, Charles answered all of them with patience and earnestness. Erik almost choked and stood up when Wanda asked if Charles had kissed their father yet. He refrained just enough to hear Charles admit honestly, albeit a little shyly, that yes, they had kissed and it was really nice. The kids made gagging noises, but didn’t object or question him further on the matter.

“Dad! Lunch is ready!” Pietro called. Erik set down his newspaper, still on the same page, and went to sit at their table. Pietro was finishing up the table setting, having folded the last napkin into a triangle before neatly placing the cutlery, in the correct order, on top of it.

“Where did you learn to do that?” Erik asked. They usually just used paper towel if they needed a napkin and it was a good day if the cutlery weren’t tossed on the table.

“At school.”

“How come you never did that at home before?”

“We didn’t have napkins,” shrugged Pietro. He also glanced at Charles, who was garnishing the pasta with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese. Erik knew that he had probably been too lax about table etiquette with the kids at home, but he also had a haunch that Pietro was doing his best to impress Charles.

Wanda helped Charles bring over the rest of the plates for everyone before sitting down across her brother. She looked pleased as she told Erik that they had made Penne Bolognese and that she had been in charge of the sauce the whole time. Pietro piped up to add that he had mixed the salad all by himself and explained how he had done an extensive amount of tossing to ensure even dressing distribution. Charles beamed and thanked the kids for their help and expertise.

“I don’t think Erik could have done better. Thank you so much for volunteering!” Charles exclaimed.

“Yeah, Dad can hardly boil water,” Pietro teased. Wanda giggled with her mouthful of pasta.

“Come on now. I didn’t know it was Pick on Dad Day,” Erik complained with mock hurt.

“It’s lovely to have allies,” Charles winked at the children, to which Erik rolled his eyes. He was still smiling broadly, however.

They enjoyed lunch while Charles asked the twins about their school life and interests. He received detailed answers on all the questions, some of which Erik had no idea about. Charles listened intently, occasionally asking follow-up questions and giving his sincere assessments of certain tricky situations. Erik watched them in awe as they conversed as if Charles had always been a part of their family. He couldn’t help but get a little emotional with happiness and relief. He felt like he had been anxious about nothing. Of course Charles would charm them immediately. And the twins were good kids at heart. It might also be that Erik hadn’t been quite enough for them, though not because he was a bad father. They had needed someone like Charles, who was compassionate, yet objective, and not blindsided by the necessity of discipline. Someone who saw them as their own entities, not just children to be looked after.

Charles ingratiated himself even further into the children’s hearts when he let them have both the pie and the cake he had brought. Though Erik worried that Charles was already spoiling them, he had to admit that he was impressed by Charles’s excellent intuition to pick out the children’s favorite desserts: double chocolate cake and apple pie with vanilla ice cream. Erik, however, earned himself a venomous glare from the twins when he admonished them that they had to choose just one slice of one kind of dessert.

“I’ll leave them here for you, so you can have the other on another day,” Charles promised.

“Yes!” they chorused, sticking out their tongue at their father.

“You still have to choose just one kind per day,” Erik retorted, snorting. 

Lunch ended around 3 o’clock, after a game of Scrabble at the children’s request. Charles let them tie for a win by giving hints the whole time, despite Erik’s protests. Erik placed last, after Charles. When the twins gloated, he groused that he was a chemist, after all; he dealt with the elements, not words. Reluctantly, the children permitted Charles to go, but not before they made him promise to be back soon for another lunch, or dinner, or whatever.

As soon as Charles hugged them and exited their front door to load the car with his things, Erik heard another “Psst!”

“You have to stop doing that. I am your father, not your spy informant,” Erik complained, which the twins simply dismissed.

“Dad, when are you gonna marry Charles?” Wanda asked.

“What? You just met him!” Erik replied, taken aback.

“You want to marry him, though, right?” Pietro insisted.

“I… Yes, I think so. But you two need to spend more time with him.”

“Okay. Then bring him as often as you can, so you can marry him soon,” Wanda advised sagely. She was already becoming quite assertive at thirteen. A little like her mother, Erik thought fondly.

“Yeah Dad. You can’t dillydally. A beautiful and nice man like Charles, he’s gotta be popular. You’ll lose if you snooze,” Pietro warned. Erik wanted to laugh, though he was still a little offended that his son seemed to think him so uncool.

“So, you like him?” Erik asked tentatively. The twins looked at each other and then at their father, a little like he was stupid.

“Of course we do. He’s really nice and caring. He obviously makes you very happy,” Wanda said.

“He seems to like you a lot, too. Like, A LOT. Enough to put up with us,” Pietro concluded.

“Oh, he’s not putting up with you guys,” Erik frowned. “You’re good kids. Of course Charles would like you two. And I have to say, you pulled out all the bells and whistles to impress him today, didn’t you?” he asked with a smirk. The twins smiled bashfully. He wasn’t sure what about Charles’s mere presence inspired their good behavior, but they had been much more polite and gentle in their demeanor than they usually were. Whatever it was, he was extremely touched and thankful for it. 

“We like him, Dad. He seems like a genuinely good person. We can see that you love each other. It’s nice. We also didn’t want to be the reason he didn’t want to be with you,” Wanda explained as Pietro nodded. Erik’s heart sank for a moment. He was sorry that his kids thought themselves as a burden, even for a second, but was still infinitely grateful for their thoughtfulness.

“Hey, you always come first, understand? If he didn’t like you, he wouldn’t be worth it,” Erik said, hugging them both tightly. For once, they didn’t struggle against him, but hugged him back. “But I’m glad you like Charles. I think he likes you, too.”

“You think so? You think he likes us?” Pietro asked.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Can you ask him just to be sure?” Wanda requested.

“Alright, I will,” Erik pledged, laughing. “Let me go take him home. We’ve made him wait long.”

With slight panic, the children hastily pushed Erik out the door. Erik laughed, assuring them it was okay, but they didn’t listen. They slammed the door behind him, telling him to hurry. Charles was sitting in the car, reading e-mails on his phone when Erik entered the car himself. 

“Sorry about the wait.”

“It’s no problem. I figured you had to have a bit of debriefing amongst yourselves,” Charles replied smiling. “So? What’s the verdict?”

He was still smiling, but it was tinged with excitement and nervousness. He bit his lips again as he waited for Erik’s answer. Erik bored into Charles’s eyes in great seriousness, making him almost vibrate in anticipation.

“They like you,” he said finally, breaking into his own smile.

“Really? Are you sure? You aren’t just saying that, are you? Be honest, Erik.”

“You know when I’m not,” Erik chuckled, grabbing Charles hands. “Charles, I don’t know what kind of magic you possess, but you have bewitched my children. I almost feel like they don’t think I’m worthy of you.”

“Rubbish, of course you are. But they like me? What did they say?”

Erik told him about how much the children were excited about Charles. How they had correctly gleaned that Charles was a good person and that they loved each other greatly. Erik left out the part about how they didn’t want to be a burden, because it was unnecessary to share, and about how impatiently they urged Erik to propose. He wanted it to be a surprise when it happened, and he now thought it was going to happen a lot sooner than he had originally planned.

As they drove towards Upper East Side, Charles looked visibly relieved at Erik’s words. He also looked like he was tearing up a little.

“Liebling, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing is wrong. I’m just so relieved and happy,” Charles answered, wiping his eyes. “They are lovely children, Erik. I knew I’d like them before I met them. They’re yours! But I never expected them to be so sweet and accepting of me, so fast. I feel extremely lucky and humbled. Again, perhaps I’m moving too fast, but I want to be a positive presence in their lives. I was worried I was just going to be their father’s boyfriend, but I think they might let me have the honor of having a relationship with them, too. Oh Erik, I’m just so happy!”

As soon as they parked at Charles’s street, Erik kissed him, holding him as close as he could. He wiped the teardrops still on Charles’s face and kissed each spot afterwards. He was happy, too. More than he could have imagined. Charles had already become such an integral part of his life, and to have the most important parts of his life accept him as such was overwhelming. He told Charles as much. They giggled and kissed each other until Erik’s phone buzzed. 

_we’re having a disney marathon. you should come home later. like at night._

It was a text from Wanda. Erik shook his head before he replied.

_Okay. Stay away from the cake and the pie._

_you suck_

_I’ll show Charles your text._

_DAD NO_

Erik chuckled before putting his phone in his pocket without replying Wanda. He helped Charles carry the leftover groceries up to his apartment, laughing to himself.

“Well, they said I should come home later. 'Like at night.' Would you like me to stay?” Erik asked slyly, taking a seat on the sofa.

“Oh! In that case, I’d love some company and cuddle for a while,” Charles replied with a grin.

“It might not stop at cuddling,” Erik waggled his brows. Charles walked over to him and straddled his lap, before kissing him sensuously in lieu of a reply. Charles was an amazing boyfriend.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This was so much fun to write! :D  
> This is my first Cherik fic, so I hope I did them justice..!  
> They're so adorable together anyway (kind of... they're a "bit" angsty...), but I thought it'd be fun to make them nervous adults. >:D  
> I jumped on this prompt like Erik on Charles, I hope I checked off most of the boxes on the prompt!  
> Thank you all for reading and to the prompter for this lovely idea! <3
> 
>  
> 
> [Tumblr!](https://daslebensmittel.tumblr.com)


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